


Lost Time

by Opuscule_Owl



Category: Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Charlie's POV, F/M, Female Player Character (Hogwarts Mystery), Future Fic, One Shot, POV Third Person, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-28
Updated: 2020-09-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:35:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26689024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Opuscule_Owl/pseuds/Opuscule_Owl
Summary: Years after you've both left Hogwarts, Charlie runs into [Y/N] and finds out that, unbeknownst to him, she is married with a young son. Heartbroken, he considers what could have been if she had chosen him instead.
Relationships: Ben Copper/Player Character (Hogwarts Mystery), Player Character (Hogwarts Mystery)/Charlie Weasley
Kudos: 12





	Lost Time

Despite having spent time in the Ministry of Magic on many occasions, the hustle and bustle still managed to catch Charlie Weasley off-guard. His week-long holiday seemed to fly by, something his mother agreed with, which is why she had insisted on him visiting his father at work before he left the next morning. However, it seemed like every other wizard in Britain had the exact same idea. Despite his reasonably tall stature and muscular build, he was finding it impossible to get to the exit fireplaces that he used to get here. If apparating in and out of the ministry wasn’t banned, he could have been back at the Burrow by now.

Deciding to cut his losses, he found a mildly secluded corner and leaned up against the wall, resigning himself to wait for a lull in the crowd to finally leave. He glanced at the Dragonologist license in his hand. He now regretted his decision to renew it before heading out, thinking it would be more convenient to get it done before returning to Romania. He shoved the document in his bag and pulled out his research on the Hebridean Black. He was just getting into the notes and sketches when a familiar voice rang out above the clamor of other wizarding voices.

“Jake, no! No running!” The voice made Charlie’s blood run cold and his heart start beating faster. He quickly returned his research to his bag and looked up. Almost on cue, the large crowd of cloaks parted to reveal a very young toddler running as fast as his tiny little trainers could take him, giggling uncontrollably. The child looked up at Charlie and suddenly looked scared. Charlie realized all too late that the kid wasn’t slowing down fast enough and the little boy ran directly into Charlie’s leg before falling backward. Not a moment later, a woman burst through the crowd, eyes aflame, looking around wildly. [Y/N]. Charlie stared at her and time slowed to a near stop. The ferocious eyes, the stance that said she was ready to take on the world, and the way all the witches and wizards had backed away immediately brought thousands of memories flooding into his mind. Memories of her staying up late with maps and codes strewn about her, of her dueling Merula in the clocktower courtyard, of her coming to meet him enthusiastically after quidditch practice, and of him racing to the hospital wing on many occasions praying that she was alright. All those seemed like they had happened yesterday, yet it had been a good 13 years since they both had graduated. Looking at her, it was almost hard to believe that she was the same girl who found the cursed vaults at Hogwarts and was now a world-famous curse breaker. The woman standing before him had her hair sensibly pulled back, was wearing simple clothes beneath her robes, and looked every bit as grown and womanly as his own mother. But there was something in her tone as she began scolding Jacob that reminded him of the girl he knew.

“Jacob you can’t go running off like that! And you better apologize to–” She glanced up to see exactly who Jacob had run into, and finally saw him clearly. [Y/N]’s eyes widened and she froze where she was. Both of them stayed still for a long time, just staring at each other. Charlie could not tell what she was seeing, but looking into her eyes, it felt like he was seeing every single moment of their relationship, from the first time Bill even mentioned her name, to the last night they were together, three years ago. Jacob got up, ran to his mother, and hugged her legs, jolting her out of whatever thoughts she was having.

“Charlie,” she said. There was an emotion she conveyed with his name that Charlie couldn’t quite understand. He looked to her eyes for answers, but they offered none. Meanwhile, Jacob seemed to be a little ticked off that [Y/N] wasn’t paying attention to him and started making unintelligible noises. Apparently, she understood because she bent over and hoisted him up to her hip, which calmed him down immediately. She began speaking to him in a hushed tone and Charlie could not hear her. He took this time to study the child. He was very small, with the slightly plump limbs that are characteristic for toddlers. His eyes were big, brown and sparkling, full of curiosity and determination. His jumper, pants, and hair were all mildly messed up, telling Charlie that the child likely had a penchant for getting into trouble. Watching Jacob in the arms of [Y/N], something finally clicked in his brain. The color of Jacob’s hair matched [Y/N]’s, the child looked safe and comfortable in her arms and Charlie realized that the determination he had seen in Jacob as he had charged towards Charlie was almost perfectly mirrored in [Y/N] as she ran after him. Charlie felt his heart sink as he glanced at the wedding band on [Y/N]’s finger and put the final piece together.

“Is he yours?” The question escaped his mouth before he could stop it. Again, as [Y/N] looked at him there was an emotion in her eyes that he could not decipher. “Yes,” she said, her tone flat. “How old?” Charlie asked, trying to mask the emotion in his voice the way she was. “Eighteen months.” He stopped the last question from exiting his lips, but [Y/N] must have seen it somehow, because she said, “We’re waiting on his father right now.”

The formerly large crowd had diminished quite a bit, but Charlie couldn’t even consider leaving now. He was left speechless at how much he had missed in the past three years. And in all that time there was never a letter, an announcement, any mention of it to him at all. After all that they had been through together, after how deeply he had loved her, Charlie felt he was at least owed some form of communication that she had gotten married and had a child. A mixture of anger and hurt welled up inside him. Was it just that she didn’t care about him at all anymore? After the last time, they had been together he had thought...well it didn’t matter. There was another very long drawn out silence before Jacob broke it by shouting “Daddy! Daddy!” He squirmed in his mother’s arms before she put him down and he raced down the hallway, disappearing from sight. “He’s a spirited boy,” Charlie said. [Y/N] smiled, the first time she had done so in the entirety of their interaction. “I wonder where he gets that from,” she said sarcastically, and Charlie let out a small chuckle. There was a moment, where they just stood there, everything seeming like the way it used to be between them. But the moment quickly ended, the smile on [Y/N]’s face died, and the uncomfortable silence filled with things they wanted to say to each other settled back in. A serious expression crossed her face, and she opened her mouth as if to say something, but was quickly cut off.

“There she is! You shouldn’t have left her, Jakers!” [Y/N] and Charlie both turned to see Jacob come back into view, carried by a tall blonde man with brown eyes that matched the child’s. He wore St. Mungos robes over black slacks and had a name tag that told Charlie what he already suspected. Ben Copper, the cowardly little Gryffindor boy that Charlie had known at Hogwarts, stood in front of him, hair neatly combed as always and with a little flush in his cheeks that made him seem perpetually embarrassed. But this grown version of Ben stood taller than adolescent Ben, walked with a stronger gait, and seemed every bit as manly as Charlie. Only now could he see the Gryffindor in Ben that had slipped by him in their years of schooling. Charlie vaguely recalled seeing him three years ago, at Bill’s wedding, the last time the old Hogwarts gang was together. Even then, he had still struck Charlie as snivelly and a little pathetic. However, Charlie quickly figured the source of Ben’s newfound confidence was his wife, as he watched Ben walk up to [Y/N] and give her a kiss on the cheek before standing back to simply gaze at her with shining eyes. Charlie pretended not to notice that [Y/N] looked at her husband with the same glow that she used to have when she looked at him. “Honey,” she said to Ben. The pet name made Charlie’s insides squirm. “Look who it is,” she said gesturing towards him. Ben looked in Charlie’s direction and his face lit up. “Charlie!” he cried as he put little Jacob down, who immediately latched himself on his mother’s legs, “Good to see you! It’s been a while!” Ben pulled Charlie into a quick hug before standing back next to [Y/N] and Jacob, forming a picture of the family that made Charlie’s heart ache more than ever could have expected. “Did you get everything taken care of?” [Y/N] asked Ben softly, almost intimately. Ben nodded. “Yes, all papers have been taken care of for more potion shipments to the hospital. Ridiculous how many hoops the Ministry makes you jump through to get them if you ask me.”

“Then I suppose we should get going?” [Y/N] said this louder than her previous question and Charlie couldn’t help but get the feeling that it was aimed more at him than at Ben. Ben seemed a bit taken aback. “Oh! Well, yes, I suppose so.” He turned to Charlie. “Would you like to join us for supper? Tell us all about the dragons you’ve been working with?” he asked. Jacob, upon hearing the word ‘dragons’ started running around again, making various sounds that Charlie had to assume was supposed to be his impressions of the beasts. It made all three of the adults laugh, although Charlie noted that [Y/N]’s was weaker and she looked sad as she observed her son. “I’m afraid I can’t,” Charlie said. Ben frowned. “That’s too bad! It’s been such a long time since we’ve seen you,” he said. “It has,” Charlie agreed. He looked to see [Y/N]’s reaction, but she was still watching her son run about. There was a very long silence before Ben spoke again. “Well, we have to go. This one will be crashing soon, and we shouldn’t be somewhere public when that happens.” He attempted to grab Jacob as he dashed by, something the child took as a challenge as he easily evaded his father’s grasp and sprinted down the hall. He was surprisingly fast for an 18-month-old. He vaguely remembered that Ginny was about eighteen months when she first started walking and wasn’t running until later. Although, he wouldn’t put it past [Y/N]’s child to start acting as wild as possible as soon as he could. Charlie watched [Y/N] and Ben look at each other and sigh. “I’ll go get him,” Ben said, a slight smile playing at his lips. He cast Charlie a look of comical defeat before walking down the hallway after his son. Charlie and [Y/N] were left alone.

Charlie couldn’t help but stare at her again. She was refusing to meet his eyes, electing to stare at the ground instead. As much as he tried to fight it, the memory of her at Bill’s wedding popped into his head. It was the last time they had seen each other. By that time, they had already been broken up about five years and Charlie had figured he was over her. But seeing her in a gorgeous dress, dancing with her, seeing her quick reaction to the Death Eater attack that happened, sent all those feelings he thought dead surging back into his heart. That night, after the dust settled, they had gone out together, rekindled old feelings, and even woke up together. He had gone back to Romania with a surging love in his heart. The last three years were punctuated by letters rarely sent and long nights thinking about her with a whiskey glass in hand. Knowing that those three years where he was practically sick when he thought of her she was off with Ben caused a fury he didn’t realize he could feel. But he wasn’t here to yell at her. He wasn’t even quite sure what he wanted to say, but the silence was killing him.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” It wasn’t what he meant to say, but it was certainly the question he wanted an answer to the most. The words nearly burned his throat as he said them. [Y/N] looked up at him, her eyes suddenly full of a sadness that quelled Charlie’s fury, but not his curiosity. “I wanted to tell you,” she said, “I really did, Charlie. But-” She paused. “But what?!” Charlie said, mildly agitated, “I thought that I still meant something to you! That you could at least call me a friend! I figured You could let me know if you got married! Couldn’t even invite me to the wedding-”

“We did!” she exploded. For a moment, Charlie was frightened of her, but she quickly deflated. “I couldn’t tell you directly because of my parents.”

“Your parents?” Charlie had met them back when he and [Y/N] were first dating. They were nice if a bit… distant. But he also remembered [Y/N] mentioning that her parents were also very strict about blood purity and how they looked down on half-bloods and muggle-borns. “Oh my god. Ben.” She nodded. “They absolutely hated him. I knew they were elitist, but I thought that Ben might change their minds. I was wrong.” Tears welled up in her eyes and Charlie wanted to hold her, but forced himself to remain a safe distance away from her. “They practically disowned me,” she continued, “When I kept seeing Ben, they started sending him threats and cursed items. Anonymously, of course, I couldn’t prove it was them. They kept sending me letters saying that they would accept me back into the family if I stopped seeing such filth. I burned all of them.” Charlie could see the old [Y/N] clearly now, with such rage and courage in her eyes as she recounted such hideous memories. “When Ben and I decided to get married, we took so many precautions to keep them away from us. Ben sent out letters to all our friends through standard post that he was having a dinner party, so my parents wouldn’t find out. In truth, the were invitations to our wedding.” Charlie’s blood ran cold. He remembered receiving that invite, writing Ben to say he couldn’t go because of work, and not giving it a second thought. “Oh,” was all he could say in his shock. She just nodded. “I wanted to write to you and tell you it was important, or even tell you the whole plan, but I was so paranoid that my parents would see it. Intercepting my mail was something else they liked to do then. So I didn’t. Once Ben and I were married, we moved into a home together and never told my parents the address, reported to the Ministry that we wanted every precaution to keep them away from us, and put up protective charms on our property. It was relieving but took a lot of time. Only three months into the marriage I found out I was pregnant. Then I had to find a way to keep working without putting the baby at too much of a risk. My curse-breaking work became more local and much less dangerous until I had progressed so much in my pregnancy that I had to stop altogether. Gringotts was surprisingly gracious with everything, but my life was still turned completely upside down. By the time I had Jacob, and Ben and I had figured everything out, I just didn’t know how to tell you. It had been so long and it just didn’t seem right to tell you everything through a letter.” She took a long breath. “I’m sorry, Charlie. I wanted you to know.”

Charlie wanted to say something but was busy processing all that she had said. He was picturing her in a white dress, surrounded by all their friends as they toasted her and Ben’s union. He imagined her relaxing in a home shared with Ben, at peace, in love, with tea in hand. He imagined her in some cave, furiously casting spells with an obviously pregnant belly. And finally, he imagined her, with sweaty brows and damp hair, holding a newborn baby, with Ben right next to her. In a way, these images were not new. Countless times he had imagined these exact situations, except he was the one by her side. He never realized how much he wanted that until now. “I just wish I could have been there for you,” he said. She smiled at him. “That’s not your job anymore.” He felt the comment jab at his heart like a knife. “Right,” he said bitterly, “It’s Ben’s.” The smile on her face quickly faded and her eyes flashed. “Do you have a problem with me being with Ben?”

“It’s just not what I expected,” he said honestly. “Oh,” she said, even angrier, “I assume you expected me to marry you?”

“I just thought you loved me,” he responded, his own anger growing, “But I guess I was wrong.”

“I can’t love something that isn’t there Charlie!” she yelled, causing several heads to turn, “I waited, for FIVE YEARS for you to prove to me that you really loved me but every time I was with you, I knew your heart was somewhere else.” She gestured to his shoulder bag, where his research was still peaking out. “Your heart and your passion are for your work first,” she said, “I was always second.”

“And I suppose your curse-breaking means nothing to you?” he sneered. She looked absolutely furious. “I would give that up–I did give that up–for the sake of my family. So that I could be with Ben and Jacob. I couldn’t make you give up Romania no matter how much I might try.”

“You don’t know that!”

“I do, Charlie! I had hope that I could after Bill’s wedding! I thought that maybe it could happen, that you were ready. But you went back to Romania and I was reminded that nothing had changed.”

Charlie couldn’t think of anything to say and just looked at her. She sighed and her features softened, the anger melting away. “Some part of me is always going to be the girl in love with the handsome dragonologist she met at school,” she said, “But more than that, I’m a wife, in love with my husband and my family. And I’m not giving that up.” The note of finality in her voice caused everything he wanted to say to slip away. It was truly over, and Charlie went from feeling like he was made of fire to made of ice.

Almost on cue, Ben showed up, holding little Jacob who now looked extremely tired. “Alright,” he said to [Y/N], “time to go home.” She nodded while still looking at Charlie. “Yes. It is.” Ben handed Jacob to her and the toddler immediately snuggled into her arms and closed his eyes. She looked down at him fondly, and Charlie’s heart shattered even more. “It was nice seeing you, Charlie,” Ben added. Charlie could only nod. Without another word, Ben began guiding his family out of the Ministry. Charlie watched them go and climb into the fireplace connected to the Floo network. Ben had the Floo powder in his hand and Charlie heard him say their destination. But right before he tossed the powder, [Y/N] locked eyes with Charlie and he swore he saw tears in her eyes. He felt her name escape his lips, but she was gone in a roar of green flames. Charlie stood for a long time staring at the empty fireplace, until he finally left the Ministry, walked onto the snowy street, and, as if in a daze, began walking, with no particular destination in mind.

**Author's Note:**

> I no longer support Ms. Rowling but this game was fun to play and I'm proud of this. I also lowkey have a crush on Charlie Weasley. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


End file.
